Month: March 2017

It is in the agenda of the government to weed out tax evaders from all angles. Last week the government has introduced a new Section 139AA in the Income Tax Act, 1961 by way of amendment to Finance Bill, 2017 passed by Lok Sabha The new law Every individual will have to mandatorily quote his Aadhaar number in PAN application form or income tax return form after July 1, 2017….

As an amendment to the Finance Bill, the government brought the axe down on the eight tribunals. The same has been done to rationalise tribunals and bring in more uniformity in terms of service and efficiency. Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) will be merged with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal. The Cyber Appellate Tribunal and the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority Appellate Tribunal will be merged with the Telecom Disputes Settlement…

Before the Cairn India IPO, the India operations of Cairn Energy were owned by a company called Cairn India Holdings-Cayman Island and its subsidiaries. Cairn India Holdings was a 100% subsidiary of Cairn UK Holdings, which was a 100% subsidiary of Cairn Energy. At the time of the IPO, the ownership of the India assets was transferred from Cairn UK Holdings to a new company – Cairn India. In 2006…

Surprisingly there was no mention during the Budget 2017 on increasing the scope of equalisation levy. However, there is some indication that the government does plan to increase the scope of the levy. Under the new definition, the government is looking at a 6% tax levy on all online multinational companies that earn revenue from India. Equalisation levy, colloquially called Google tax, could soon ensnare the likes of IBM, Microsoft,…

A trust is considered charitable if the object of the trust is directed to the benefit of the community or a section of the community and not for an individual or group of individuals. A trust is considered charitable if the object of the trust is directed to the benefit of the community or a section of the community and not for an individual or group of individuals. Charitable purpose…

Corporate India was awaiting Budget 2017 with concern as well as eager anticipation. The concern primarily stemmed from the demonetization exercise over the latter part of 2016, and whether another shock from the government was in the offing. On the other hand, there was widespread anticipation that the Finance Minister would come up with some sort of sops to revitalise the economy. The Budget did feature some important changes on…

The third protocol amending the existing India-Singapore Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) entered into force on Monday, Singapore’s tax authorities have said. This would mean that the provisions provided in the third protocol — signed in December 2016 — have become law in the island country. Singapore was the largest foreign direct investor into India for the period April 2015 to March 2016, and one of the largest portfolio investors…